Many of you will now know of the sad passing of Sir Howard Bernstein on 22nd
June.
His family has created a website where anyone can submit tributes and memories. The messages will be displayed online and compiled into a book later this year. They would be honoured if anyone that knew him could contribute. You can visit the site at: https://oshb.co.uk
From a personal perspective, When Steve Connor from Creative Concern- the people that helped us design and launch www.abzolutely.com - contacted me a week past Saturday to ask if I’d heard the news, I felt genuinely devastated.
We were just finalising an August visit to Manchester to meet the team at MIDAS to compare notes on Investment Zones et al and I had intended to get in touch to see if Sir Howard might be free to see me.
It was humbling, when I contacted Howard almost eight years ago to ask if he might be interested in coming here to support our Vanguard future leaders initiative, to provide guidance on our regional economic strategy and the see the work we had started to try and reinvent how Chambers of Commerce operated, that he accepted without hesitation.
I think he must have liked what we were doing as I detected a wee soft spot for Aberdeen in our subsequent meetings, the last of which was just over a year ago on a sunny day at His Majesty’s Theatre, overlooking the magnificent new Union Terrace Gardens, discussing regeneration and city centres of the future.
His amazing legacy is clear to see for visitors to Manchester today and future generations.
I have so much respect for what he achieved in his home region and I wish we had his like in Aberdeen!